Beginning of the 21st century has witnessed a tremendous upsurge of scientific activity in the field of 'Nanoscience' and 'Nanotechnology', whose seeds were sowed in the last century. Scientists, technocrats and even governments of many countries all over the world are convinced that 'Nanotechnology' based on 'Nanoscience' is the technology of the 21st century. Nanoelectronics is the most advanced of the Nanotechnologies and products using Nanoelectronics are appearing in the market. Many of the countries in the world are embarking on ambitious programs on Nanoelectronics to address the needs of tomorrow's technologies. Centers of Excellence in Nanoelectronics (CEN) established in 2006 at Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru (IISc) and IIT, Bombay (IITB) may be considered one among them.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology's (MeitY) support to CEN at IISc and IITB has enabled the process of creating a significant infrastructure, which has promoted research and training in the area of nanoelectronics in India. Although the major focus of this project is research and training of in-house researchers and students at these Institutes, the facilities created under such national initiative is also available to researchers and students from other institutions, laboratories and industry.

After IISc and IITB, MeitY initiated nano centers at IIT Madras (IITM) and IIT Delhi (IITD) in 2011, as well as one at IIT Guwahati (IITG) in 2015. In 2018, the nano centers at IISc, IITB, IITD, IITM, along with the facility at IIT Kharagpur (IITKgp), were brought under one umbrella - the Nanoelectronics Network for Research and Applications (NNetRA) - supported for four years thence by MeitY and DST combined. Now, with the benefit of the INUP experience and with support from MeitY, all six nanocenters, viz. at IISc, IITB, IITD, IITG, IITKgp and IITM has come under one umbrella to open up their facilities to the nation. This new program,'Indian Nanoelectronics Users' Programme - Idea to Innovation' (INUP-i2i) will take the 'open national nano centers' concept to the next stage, while retaining the key aspects of training at different levels introduced in INUP.
For more details about this programme, please click here

We are running a similar program funded by Ministry of Education, Govt. of India which is also named as INUP.

Below are the INUP websites of the other nanocenters:

Objectives of INUP

To conduct workshops for wide dissemination of knowledge in the field of Nanoelectronics; to conduct such workshops not only at IISc and IITB, but also at other locations in the country to ensure that researchers in distant parts of the country benefit from them.
To impart hands-on training in Nanoelectronics to researchers from different institutions in the country.
To assist researchers with initiation of their research work in Nanoelectronics by enabling its execution at the CENs. Applied research that is likely to result in products would be given preference.
To provide a platform for researchers in Nanoelectronics to come together and benefit from complementary expertise.
To work closely with other institutions in the country and help them develop academic programs in nanoelectronics, provide training to faculty and students in nanoelectronics, encourage joint projects between institutes.
To encourage scientific participation in major areas of importance to India by conducting Hackathons. The specific areas for these hackathons can be based on areas that are of importance to the country.
To provide technical support to startups in the area of nanoelectronics.

Levels of training offered under INUP:

A. Training to be provided:

In INUP, users will receive training through the following three levels:

Level 1: Familiarization Workshop in Nano Science and Technology: During the ‘Familiarization Workshop’, participants learn about the basics of nano science and technology and about the essential research methods and practice in Nanofabrication and Characterization. More details: URL: https://www.inup.cense.iisc.ac.in/familiarization-workshop
Level 2: Hands-on Training on Nanofabrication and Characterization Techniques: During ‘Hands on Training’, participants undergo training in the clean room and characterization lab. They learn about the methods and practices of Nanofabrication and Characterization by using equipment in the clean room to make and test basic micro/nano devices. More details: URL: https://www.inup.cense.iisc.ac.in/hands-on-training
Level 3: Execution of Projects: The very philosophy of INUP is to enable researchers from across the country to carry out their research work without avoidable delays and worries about securing funding for expensive equipment and supplies. Academic researchers without project funding may access the facilities free of cost. After receiving hands-on training, researchers are encouraged to submit their research proposals electronically which are reviewed promptly by domain experts, who work closely with researchers to refine proposals where required. The proposals can be short-term (for a maximum of 3 months) or can be medium-term (from 3 to 24 months). The proposals, which are of duration 2 to 5 years, require collaboration with CeNSE faculty on projects jointly proposed and externally funded. The program also offers similar opportunities to researchers from the industry, on a cost-sharing basis.

Apart from supporting the ‘Research and Innovation Projects’ aimed at academic researchers for executing thesis and research, INUP-i2i shall also support a substantial number of ‘Innovation Projects’ with startup potential. The selection criteria for ‘Research and Innovation Projects’ will continue to be scientific novelty and rigor, whereas the selection criteria for ‘Innovation Projects’ will be translation potential and societal/industrial/strategic relevance. These will be Application-oriented projects - from the Individual Researchers, the Hackathon Winners (comprising GRAND CHALLENGES from different application areas, e.g., strategic, healthcare, agriculture, energy & environment) and the Collaborating Institutes.

B. Mentoring:

1. Startup support: This support is for already incubated startups that need micro/nanofabrication and characterization facilities. INUP-i2i will provide continuous technical support for about three years. During this period, technical training, and help in fabrication, optimization, & characterization of devices/systems will be provided. IISc invited the applications and have selected the below startups/ MSMEs to be supported under this program:

INFAB Semiconductor Private Limited
Theranautilus Private Limited
SUPERQ Technologies India Private Limited
ABX3 PV Private Limited
MagHeals Private Limited
Quazar Technologies Private Limited
International Center for Nanodevices Private Limited
Bellatrix Aerospace Private Limited
Cablesmith - DAWNIENS International Private Limited

2. Collaborating Institutes: With the goal of expanding the nanoelectronics/ semiconductor ecosystem in the country, INUP-i2i includes a new model of institute-to-institute engagement along with the six implementing nano centers functioning as hubs connected to a network of Collaborating Institutes. IISc will identify 7 such partners which will comprise institutes from South zone, along with a few from under-served regions of India e.g., the North-East. The engagement will aim for broad and deep R&D collaboration, possibly resulting in joint publications/ patents. IISc invited the applications and have selected the below institutes to be supported under this program:

IISER Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh
NIT Calicut, Kerala
NIT Nagaland
REVA University, Karnataka
BITS Pilani, Rajasthan
BMS College of Engineering, Karnataka
MAHE Manipal, Karnataka

Research through INUP

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